Vialogue = video + dialogue

Overview:Videos and video clips are finding their way into classrooms everywhere. We use sites like YouTube, Teacher Tube, Khan Academy, TED, and many others to offer our students a visual element. But what do we do with these videos? Most of the time we have them take notes or give them a quiz. What else can we do with the videos we show to engage our students? Viewing videos alone is not enough for our students to retain information. One way to use videos to engage students is by way of a tool called Vialogue.

What can we do with Vialogue?The image above shows you the video I uploaded directly from YouTube. The description shows the questions/assignment for my students. I can also set the privacy setting so it is only visible to my students. I can share this Vialogue by emailing this link to my students or embedding this link to the class website.

Here you see the sampling of the types of questions I ask. The times "00:36" tells us where on the video this topic was mentioned.

The questions asked should be a range of questions from questions with definitive answers to questions asking for student interpretation and thoughts. This provides differentiation among students.

The students choose which question they want to address and answer it directly under the appropriate question.

Students then interact with one another by responding to the responses of others. In trying to make sure that everyone is given feedback, I have a 1:1 policy saying that each post can only have 1 response. What if someone didn't post by the date and time this assignment was due? It gives another student the right to choose to respond to someone else who may already have a response to their post. Because everything is timestamped, teachers know who did what and when.

I love using Vialogue in my flipped classroom instruction. Students can watch a video that provides adequate background information for classroom activities and discussion and the questions they are responsible to answer tells me that they took the time to process the main points. And I get to decide what points I would like my students to know before coming to class the next day.

Pros:- students can be responsible for videos they watch- students are collaborating online and building on each other- we can guide our students to what we want them to take from the videos we show

Cons:- students need to create an account- students need internet and a computer (can burn video on a disc and print questions for students with limited access)- does not work on ipads just yet but they are working on it